Ohio village boasts new wastewater treatment plant

December 4, 2012

CARROLLTON, Ohio — The village of Carrollton, Ohio, will finally be able to use its new wastewater treatment plant, following almost two years of construction and testing, according to the local Times Reporter.

The plant is a great success story for Carrollton and few residents can be happier with it than Mayor Frank Leghart, who was present at the opening ceremony, together with village administrator Denny Roudebush and construction and funding associates. The mayor is extremely pleased with the plant and said it is hard to believe how clean the water is once it has been treated.

The 15-acre site is situated just outside the city borders, on Alamo Road. According to Mike Leslie, village water superintendent, the wastewater treatment plant is a real state-of-the-art facility. Advanced technologies featured in the plant equipment allow Leslie to keep everything under control. An alarm system that can detect and warn of potential problems is linked to his cellphone, so that he can be informed 24/7, and adjustments can be made to the facility systems from his home computer. In addition to the technology that allows problems to be fixed from distance, there is also a person on duty to monitor the plant even during holidays.

On site, a tracking system is fitted on the outside of the building to allow septic cleaning companies to have access to the sewage system where they can empty their tanks even outside regular working hours. Access is granted by an electronic card that is issued to each company.

State-of-the-art equipment is not the only thing that gives Carrollton a reason to be proud of its new facility. The plant is also highly efficient and can process 350,000 gallons of wastewater per day, Leslie noted. The wastewater goes through a system that filtrates it and cleanses it and the water is then transported underground through a pipeline that leads it to the other end of the plant, into a stream. The water that is released into the stream is clean, clear and odorless.

The original village treatment plant dates back to 1935 and was last upgraded almost 35 years ago. The new facility is situated right next to the small building in which the old system was fitted. According to the plant project manager Tom Voldrich, of CT Consultants of Mentor, many of the parts of the old treatment plant have been reused in the new facility which has significantly reduced the waste material in the transition to using the new plant.

Completion of the whole project has cost around $8.5 million and the money was provided by a number of institutions, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which granted $2.66 million, the Ohio Public Works and the Community Development Block Grant program, which contributed $500,000 each, and the Appalachian Regional Commission, which granted $250,000. In addition, the scheme was funded through a $3.31 million loan from USDA, a $500,000 loan from OPWC and $780,000, which was donated by the village.